


Clockwork hearts

by Menfinske



Category: The Grand Tour (TV) RPF, Top Gear (UK) RPF
Genre: Mutants, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2019-11-21 13:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18142859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menfinske/pseuds/Menfinske
Summary: With the addition of the mutant-registration law, James' secret was at risk of being exposed. Here's to hoping Jeremy is enough of a loudmouth and Richard is hyperactive enough to ensure James' secret was safe between the three of them.





	1. Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> Aside from the obvious alteration to reality (i.e. James being a mutant), this also has the slight addition of James being a bachelor. It's not for any kind of romantic relationship for the three chaps among themselves, it's merely because in this universe, James' anxiety about what he can do has kept him from finding a romantic partner. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story!

“The registration law went through,” Jeremy announces when Richard walks into the room, used to the other not watching the news. Richard nods though, sitting at his desk but not yet booting up his PC.

“I know,” he answers softly. Normally he indeed doesn’t watch the news. However, with the ‘mutant registration law’ being decided yesterday and one of his best mates being a ‘mutant’, he had kept an eye on it yesterday, rooting against the law fiercely and feeling frustrated he couldn’t do anything about it. “Has he been in yet?” 

“No,” Jeremy shakes his head. “I think, with all the preparation going into the law, the idea was they all have to be registered today.” 

“We should go see him tonight,” Richard offers up. James had always liked the anonymity from nobody knowing he was a ‘mutant’ at all. In fact, even when he was tired and exhausted and could just let his mutation do his work for him, if there was anyone beside Jeremy or Richard present, he’d do it himself. And honestly, Richard and Jeremy had discovered it by accident.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Richard had woken up by Jeremy’s panicked scream, having fallen asleep on the backseat of the car a while ago. He immediately sits up and glances about himself, not really seeing why Jeremy had screamed. Looking at the other presenter in confusion, Jeremy’s eyes are still panicked as he gestures to James in the driving seat.

Actually, on a second glance, Richard realizes, he gesture to a sleeping James in the driver’s seat. Apparently exhausted to the bone, judging from the fact Jeremy’s scream hadn’t even woken him up. Richard wants to point out Jeremy shouldn’t wake them both up by screaming when he comes to the same realization Jeremy must have come to before. 

“He’s still got his foot on the accelerator,” Richard says, now sitting up nervously and shaking James from his position in the back. To his surprise though, Jeremy shakes his head.

“No, he doesn’t. Look,” Jeremy says. Richard, furrowing his brows, moves to the side a little, enough to be able to see that James’ feet aren’t on any of the pedals and his arms are uselessly in his lap, even as the steering wheel turns to take a corner. 

“What?” Richard manages, shaking James awake properly now. It takes a while, proving just how exhausted James really is, before he actually wakes. Even then, it takes Jeremy practically shouting at him about the car taking them hostage before James actually wakes up.

“Oh cock,” he says, then, when Jeremy tries to lean over to take over for James who’s still waking up, he moves to block Jeremy’s attempts. Instead, he moves in a position to take drive, completely without panic. “You can let me drive again,” he says to no one in particular (that Richard can see anyway) before Richard can feel the car slowing down just a little before James presses down on the accelerator the same way- something?- had done before.

“James, what the fuck?” Jeremy asks.

“James?” Richard asks, softer mostly due to the confusion at the same time. James makes an obvious and unsubtle attempt to hide behind his hair and Jeremy rolls his eyes.

“James!” he calls out more urgently. James meets both their eyes for a moment, then quickly looks away. 

“Oh very well, I suppose I can’t quite hide it anymore now. Just promise me nobody will ever hear about this,” he says after a drawn-out silence, meeting their eyes again, more firmly this time to confirm they actually mean it rather than just saying it because he wants to hear it.

“Yes, I promise,” Richard says, curious what big secret his mate is hiding. Jeremy promises the same and James clears his throat awkwardly.

“I’m a mutant,” he mumbles. 

“What?” Jeremy asks. “You’re a mutant? But you’re so- James,” he finishes with a series of non-committal hand-gestures nobody could ever make sense of, including Jeremy himself, but James chews his lip and briefly glances at both of them. James doesn’t even look at the gestures though, his eyes firmly on the road just to not see their reactions. Richard, whose best mate during university had been a mutant and quite happy to use his powers whenever, isn’t nearly as surprised as Jeremy.

“What’s your power, then?” he asks instead, not able to come up with any idea that allows James to drive a car while in deep sleep. 

“I can talk to machines,” he answers. 

“What, so you just told the car to drive itself and it did?” 

“Yeah,” James says, then shrugs a little, meeting Richard’s eyes through the rear-view mirror and looking relieved there is no judgement in Richard’s eyes. Richard offers up a smile as he leans his hand on James’ shoulder, then glances at Jeremy, who is still looking at James with a significant amount of surprise on his face. In order to distract James from that, he decides to question James further.

“How did it know where to go? I mean, I assume you told it, but can it read like road signs or anything?” 

“I suppose with my track record of getting lost, they can read road signs better than I can. Machines do have a consciousness. Just- not one that humans are aware of. Not the same as us either,” James says, “they’re a bit- well, like a puppy. Enthusiastic and playful and able to learn if you bother with it, but not actually that well-trained by themselves.” Richard has more questions. Wants to know more about the workings of cars and perhaps even venture into different kind of machines, but James’ eyes dart to Jeremy nervously every few seconds, anxious for a reaction from the so-far silent man.

“I- I’m sorry, it’s just- a lot to take in, I guess,” Jeremy finally speaks up when he realizes both his colleagues are watching him, waiting for a reaction. James’ face falls and Jeremy practically rolls his eyes, “I didn’t mean that negatively, you arse. It’s just- not every day that you learn your very much cheating mate can cheat much more than he actually does.”

“Oh fuck, you’re right,” Richard groans, “You could just tell our cars to be slower than yours.” James actually laughs and the tension in the car disappears. James even lets them ask their questions patiently as they continue driving to the hotel. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Richard and Jeremy drive to James’ separately from each other, Richard making a detour by the supermarket to buy some beers and Jeremy going by the Thai place to get them some takeout. Richard arrives first, as expected, and he knocks on James’ door. He hears James inside before he opens the door, then lets Richard in.

“Isn’t Jeremy with you?” James asks, clearly surprised to see only Richard there. 

“You’re not surprised to see us, then?” he chuckles, “He’ll be here shortly. He’s getting take-out.” Richard holds up the beers and James lets him, leaving the door just slightly cracked open so Jeremy can get in when he gets here. 

“Boil the water,” James says softly and Richard hears the kettle activate even as he opens the fridge to put the beers in. He then reaches into James’ cupboard for three cups and some tea, before leaning against the counter and waiting for the water to finish boiling, seeing the exhaustion on James’ face. 

“Do you need me to stay here tonight, mate?” Richard asks. He’d have to alert Mindy he wouldn’t be home until after work tomorrow, of course, but she wouldn’t mind it. He’d already told her chances were he’d stay in London tonight and, though she’d been a little puzzled because Richard had kept his word to James and hadn’t even told his wife and kids that ‘uncle James’ was a mutant, she’d been understanding enough. Besides, it’s not as if he stayed in London that often. They were good mates but, with the working hours they kept, it was a relief to get a few hours alone every day. 

“You don’t need to,” James says. 

“Mh. I may not need to, James, but you can use some cheering up and beer is the best way to go. Drunk driving isn’t responsible, so it’s good for both of us if I stay here.” 

“I’ve instructed your car to deliver you home safely before,” James says, raising his brows pointedly, “I doubt I’ll get so drunk tonight I can’t even say those words anymore.” Richard laughs happily as the kettle clicks to let them know the water is a good temperature and he finishes making their tea.

“Who knows where the night will end, James. We may break a leg just trying to get up the stairs.” James rolls his eyes but doesn’t protest Richard inviting himself over anymore. Instead he retrieves some forks from the drawer and they bring the tea and forks to James’ sitting room, Jeremy entering just after James turns the TV on. 

Actually, when James turns to Jeremy, Richard can finally see the mark that was given to him today. Identification so people know he’s capable of things they aren’t. It’s honestly ridiculous, even if it’s small and subtle. With Top Gear having turned out as successfully as it had, rumours of James’ status would be spread in no time. He bites his cheek, angry on behalf of every mutant around the world, but especially so for those he’s met in person before. It wouldn’t do well to dwell on that tonight, though. James was exhausted enough without having to reminded of what kind of impactful decision some high-ranking arseholes made for him yesterday.

 

It isn’t until lunch on Tuesday, two weeks later, that either of them bring up the subject. Jeremy waits until they’re by themselves for lunch, the crew having gone out for a celebratory lunch Andy had set up for them. Richard is fairly sure Jeremy had asked him for some privacy sometime before the live-studio films, though he doesn’t bother pointing that out. 

“Are you planning on addressing your status, James? If you do, we will need to plan it sometime,” Jeremy says, clearly hesitant to bring it up but bracing on despite that. And he does have a fair point. While Richard knows that, given the chance, James would like to deny what he is, but he doesn’t have that chance anymore. The little M just under his ear is visible, despite his hair doing its best to hide it, and people were bound to notice and gossip about what James might be able if he’s not honest about it.

“No,” James says firmly, clearly hoping to dissuade Jeremy from breaching the subject further. 

“James, I know you don’t want to share what you can do, but,” he sighs and rubs his fingers against his nose, clearly thinking about how to progress. Clearly thinking along the same lines Richard is, judging by what follows, “People are going to notice your mark. People will ask you about it. Whether it be in person on the streets, if they’re brave, through letters or even interviewers who bring it up. If you’re adamant about refusing to answer those questions, they might believe you have a very dangerous mutation.”

“I do have a dangerous mutation,” James argues. Jeremy rolls his eyes.

“What, the ability to tell cars to drive themselves, tell kettles to turn on or switch channels just by ordering around the TV?” James shakes his head, clearly uncomfortable discussing this and glancing around nervously to check if there’s nobody in the office to overhear their conversation.

“Jeremy, if I can tell a car to drive its owner home, what makes you think I couldn’t tell that same car to kill its owner in a horrible crash instead? Not to mention, do you know how many machines control your daily life? I could rob a bank simply by telling its computer to transfer all the money into my account. I could tell your computer to let me into your personal accounts easily. And I could do the same to everyone who has access to internet. Given a computer with a powerful enough processor and memory core, I could take down countries and governments just by telling the computer to do so.” 

“Right,” Jeremy says, clearly stunned and never having thought about that. Richard has to admit, he hadn’t either. Sure, he had determinedly deleted his internet history and removed any incriminating files from his computer, knowing James could speak to it and discover his secrets otherwise, but he hadn’t realized it went beyond that. Identity theft, robbery, rebellion and even murder were quite a bit more serious than being busted for googling certain types of porn. 

“You would never do that, though,” Richard argues. There was a reason both of them were quite stunned now. James may be less of an idiot than the grand public thought him of due to James often being the butt of their jokes, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be pedantic and slow. Richard had never seen him use his power for anything more serious than making sure people got home safely or even telling a car with an idiotic driver to pull over for emergency services when the driver clearly had no intention to do so. 

“I’m glad you trust me enough to believe that,” James says, and he sounds genuinely relieved. It’s clear that he hadn’t wanted to point out how dangerous he could be if he wished it, “But other people might not. In fact, if I’d heard someone was capable of that, I would not.”

“Fair enough,” Jeremy agrees. “Couldn’t we tell them you have an innocent mutation instead? Pretend like you- I don’t know- have super strength or something? And then we’d give you weights that say a different weight than they actually are and have you lifting them with ease and then we’d struggle with them and- ta da, crisis averted.”

“I doubt it will take long before people discoverer it’s not actually true. I could reason why it’s not true right now, just by pointing out how we’ve often had trouble towing cars out of sticky situations. If I could’ve just lifted those, that wouldn’t have happened. Besides, people aren’t going to comfortable with super-strength either. People aren’t going to be comfortable with any mutation.”

“James,” Richard says, unsure of how to proceed. He knows what Jeremy means with people assuming the worst if they don’t address the problem, but he also can’t help but agree with James that the people who wanted the law in the first place wouldn’t be less panicky regardless of which mutation they could convince people James had. 

“I know,” he responds softly, looking at both of them, “I know it’s a bad situation and I’m sorry. But the simple fact of the matter is that I don’t have an innocent mutation. There’s a reason I never told anyone but you two what I could do, and that was because you had caught me with it.”

“What did your parents say when you were growing up? Didn’t they have an idea of what you could tell people you could do.” James gives the tiniest of smiles.

“They don’t know what I can do. I- when I was diagnosed as a mutant, my powers had not yet presented themselves. And I was actually very confused about what exactly I could do at first. I didn’t realize I could make machines do what I wanted, I just knew I could hear what they said. When I did finally realize what I could do, and realize the implications that went with them, I decided to hide it from them as well.” Richard had never realizes James’ own parents hadn’t even known. Jeremy and he really were the only ones, it seems. He knows James had always said that, but- he hadn’t realized it went this far. 

“I’m sorry, mate,” Richard says, gently nudging James’ shoulder. 

“It’s alright,” James says. Richard suspects it’s not, but- he knows James well enough to know the man isn’t ever going to admit that. Besides, at least he has them he can be himself with and doesn’t have to hide his secret from. It’s not enough, Richard can’t imagine having to live like that, but it’s something. 

“It’ll be alright,” Richard agrees in a soft murmur, glancing over to Jeremy, knowing they’re going to have to ensure people don’t bugger him about it. Jeremy nods, walking into the kitchenette to turn on the kettle while Richard can already see him plotting about the best ways to distract people from James’ mark.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the course of the next few weeks, things remain surprisingly silent in their office. It hadn’t taken more than a week before the first reporter had managed to snap a picture of the mark under James’ ear. The picture had been sold to nearly all the gossipy magazines Britain had to offer, which meant that many people now knew he was a mutant.

However, not many letters had come in and no one had yet to corner any of them for answers about what James could do. Well, almost nobody anyway. Richard knew James’ parents had been claiming it was ridiculous that he had to be branded if his ‘power’ still hadn’t presented itself. Not to mention;

“Francie asked me about James’ mutation last week,” Jeremy admits when James isn’t in the office. He’s filming on-scene in Sweden and is unlikely to return before the end of the week. Jeremy had offered to take on the film, so that James wouldn’t be cornered when he was alone, but James had rolled his eyes and told them he didn’t need to be protected by them 24/7. 

“Mh. Mindy asked me about it as well,” Richard responds, not really glancing away from his screen where he is trying to formulate a mail to Ferrari, who had so far refused to let them test the new car anywhere but on their track. Which was all well and good, but the idea was to do a road-test to compare it to the new Lamborghini and Aston Martin. 

“What did you say?” Richard finally looks up from his screen when he realizes Jeremy is rather anxious about it. 

“Well, she didn’t really ask anything about it, so much. She was watching some gossip show on TV and I was reading autocar next to her. When the thing about James came up, she looked at me and asked if I knew. I told her that, yes, I did know and that I hadn’t ever told anyone, not even her, because James is very conscious of it and never uses his ability regardless.”

 

“She didn’t ask anything else?” Richard shakes his head.“Lucky you. Francie was very curious. She didn’t ask what he could do, just if I knew what it was. But she kept going on about how it must feel for him and how this and how that and how everything, and I was just getting anxious on his behalf.” Richard chuckles. 

“You should get used to it. As soon as people discover he doesn’t want to admit what he can do, they’ll try to corner us to get some answers.”

“I know that,” Jeremy admits, leaning back in his chair. “And I was actually thinking- what if we tell them we don’t know what May can do? I mean- yeah, chances are they don’t believe us, but if we just tell them that we’ve never busted May using his ability, then maybe they believe he just doesn’t use it. Perhaps they’ll even fall for the same lie as his parents that his ability hasn’t presented itself yet.”

“I doubt that would work,” Richard counters, “In fact, perhaps it would make things worse. There are abilities that can be used without anyone being any the wiser. Mind reading, for example, is an ability you would never notice unless the person admitted it, but it would make everyone around that person very uncomfortable to know about it.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Jeremy acknowledges. “It would be quite easy if he could just make people forget they’re curious about his ability. Then we would never have to answer any questions. At least, not with him nearby.”

“Yeah, but then he would be able to do the same to us, Sherlock. Would you really be comfortable with James May being able to manipulate your thoughts? He cheats enough as it is,” Richard points out with a laugh. Jeremy laughs as well.

 

Richard and James are leaning against the cars they’re currently testing when Jeremy approaches them, cursing loudly and looking frustrated and annoyed as a whole. Raising an inquisitive eyebrow and looking up at the orang-utang, Richard silently waits for the explanation.

“Andy is an incredibly arse sometimes, you know that?” he grumbles. Richard nods. While generally not too shabby as their director, sometimes he got these grand ideas he couldn’t be talked out of, regardless of whether anyone else agreed on them.

“What’s he come up with now, then?” James asks. 

“He has this brilliant idea that we should divulge an entire episode to the new ‘marked’ so that we can show we support them. As if working with one and/or being one wasn’t enough,” Jeremy indicates James as he says it. ‘Marked’ was the term most people now used for mutants, because with the registration law being through and a lot of marked people claiming their ability hadn’t presented yet (surprisingly many people bought the lie), people had decided mutants was the wrong term.

“It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Unless you actually dislike the marked.” Richard asks. He could come up with a few ideas. See if cars were faster than some of the super-speedy mutants, test if a tank could win in a strength-battle against one of the strong ones, do some ice-tests with fun cars to see how they’d slide across the slippery surface. It could be a very fun episode.

“Yes, Richard, let’s devote an entire episode to what mutants can or can’t do while we have one in our own midst. I really do doubt that nobody would inquire about what James can do and why we haven’t included a test with him in it,” Jeremy points out. 

“We could just say his ability wouldn’t be any fun to do any tests with, couldn’t we? I mean, we’re hiding what you can do, not the fact that you’re marked at all. Everyone already knows you are, it really is quite obvious,” Richard argues. “Besides, we wouldn’t even be lying. I mean, yeah, your ability can definitely influence a car but- well, how much fun is it to see a self-driving car? Not incredibly much, I suspect.”

“Mh. But it’ll make people wonder even more than they do now, Rich. Now, they know what I am and they’re already trying to discover what I can do. If we do an episode revolving around the marked and say I don’t participate because I don’t have a fun ability,   
we take away any belief someone might have that I might yet be one of the ones who hasn’t presented with an ability yet. If we say I haven’t presented yet and then get caught, somehow, further down the road, it’ll be even worse. It’ll get people thinking.”

“Fine. Well, I mean- Andy is stubborn, but- if all three of us protest doing the episode, we might get out of it. Besides, we could point out how difficult it would be to find people willing to participate with relevant abilities or something of the sort.”

“I suppose we’ll have to try that. So, think about a new episode, then? Hope we have some ideas before Andy brings up the idea again,” Jeremy proposes. 

“Actually, we could agree with Andy and protect James at the same time,” Richard says. Both men look at him curiously now and Richard gives a grin. 

“Well, we could do a stunt with, I don’t know, let’s say a very fast marked one? Have them race a regular car at first and if he wins put him up against the Veyron or something. That way we show everyone that we’re okay with marked ones, even if that wasn’t exactly a question in the first place, while not dedicating it to the marked entirely. People won’t be any more curious about what James can do than they already are like that.”

“I suppose you’re right. Alright, you go and find out how we can book a fast marked one and I’ll go talk Andy into it. James, you keep out of it.”

“You do realize I’ve been hiding my mutation for decades and the two of you are the only ones who have ever found it?” James asks, not sounding as if he expects a response from either of his colleagues. Which is exactly what happens from one of them, Jeremy already storming off in Andy’s direction. Richard shrugs and pats James’ arm.

“I know, James. It’s not that we don’t think you can hide what you can do. We’re just trying to help you. If you want, though, you can help me. I’ve got no idea how to approach this. The list of registered marks isn’t public and, even if it was, how am I even going to get the slightest idea of who is fast? Look for someone called Will. E. Coyote?” James laughs even as Richard begins walking towards the car to get back to the office.

“I doubt our producers would be very happy if they had to do a comic-episode. Can’t imagine the extra costs of making us into comics.” Richard grins as well. 

 

“What do you mean you’re part of this group?” Richard asks, two days later, when they’re sitting in the car in front of what looks like an empty storage unit. “How are you part of it? Unless Jeremy and I aren’t the only ones aware of what you can do, after all.”

“You are,” James protests, “I’m far from the only one who refuses to state my ability. There’s a few who do and they come here to talk and make themselves feel better after a week of people talking down to them. There’s a smaller number of people who don’t wish people to know what they can do either and they come here to- well, feel welcome in an environment where not everyone is pushing you to reveal it. They know what it’s like, after all.”

“Alright. And you’re sure I’m welcome?” Richard asks, hand on the door-handle already but not yet opening the door. From what James had told him, this meeting was purely for the marked only. 

“Sure. You’re not the first person to enter without being marked. It’s rare but- well, we’re all glad enough for supportive people as it is. We’re not going to boycott them.” Richard supposes James has a fair point there. There were enough people who judged anyone carrying a mark now. 

He follows James into the unit to find a number of marked scattered around, sitting in small groups. James appears to know where he’s going and soon enough Richard and James are approaching a small group of three people, who smile when they see James. 

“Hey James,” one of the girls says. “You brought company?”

“Yes, I did. My colleague, Richard. Richard, these are Amanda, Jeffrey and Jordan,” James introduces them. Richard holds out his hand with a smile, shaking Amanda’s and Jeffrey’s. Jordan smiles but doesn’t accept his hand.

“Trust me, you don’t want to. You’ll be cold for the rest of the week,” Jeffrey laughs by way of explanation. Richard nods, supposing that Jordan must have some kind of freezing ability. Amanda gestures for him to sit and he does so obediently.  
It doesn’t take long before he and Amanda are in deep conversation about- of all the things- horses and how much they enjoyed having horses around. Richard has to be honest that the horses at his house were mostly because Mindie likes them, but Richard has grown quite fond of them and enjoys taking care of them along with his wife. He’s only half aware of James tapping his shoulder and he finally glances up to see James looking far too amused for his own good. 

“What are you grinning about?” Richard wonders. James doesn’t answer, instead nodding towards another group.

“Come on, we have a job to do, remember? Kevin’s here. He’ll probably be willing to try and outrace a car in front of the camera,” James says. Richard nods, then turns back to Amanda.

“Right. Sorry, I guess we’ll have to cut the conversation short.” 

“Not a problem,” Amanda laughs. “I’ll see you around, Richard.” Richard smiles as well, then follows James towards Kevin. Kevin turns out to be a fairly young man, still in his early twenties, with a very stereotypical look about himself. He’s laughing heartily about a joke one of the others made when they arrive.

“Kevin, could we steal you from the group for a moment?” James asks. Kevin isn’t quite done laughing yet even as he follows the two of them to enough distance they could talk semi-privately. James explains the plan for the race between Kevin and a car, then possibly faster cars if he proves victorious. Kevin looks a bit confused at first, then smiles broadly by the time James says that he might get to race a Veyron if he proves fast enough.

“Of course, sounds good!” Kevin agrees easily. “Here’s my number. I won’t be reachable tomorrow, but give me a call the day after and we’ll hatch out the details?” 

“Sounds good. Thanks, man,” Richard says.   
They head back toward the car and Richard easily drives towards James’ house to drop him off home. Before they reach his house, however, Richard can’t help but remember how amused James had looked earlier.

“Why was my conversation with Amanda so hilarious to you?” 

“Amanda’s ability is that she can speak with animals.”

“And?” Richard asks. He won’t lie and say he already suspected as much, but considering where he’d met Amanda, he’s also not too incredibly surprised.

“You should’ve seen how impressed you looked any time she pointed out something she knew about horses that you didn’t. It’s not that difficult when you can talk to them,” James points out with a grin. Richard makes a face as he remembers that he’d indeed been rather impressed with certain information she’d given him. James laughs happily even as Richard pulls up at his house.


End file.
